It has been a big year for The Friendship Table.
It was one year ago that the Bradford organization suspended indoor dining to protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But The Friendship Table — now needed more than ever due to a sudden increase in unemployment — never stopped serving food.
The organization quickly transitioned to providing take-out meals once a day, Monday through Friday. Visitors left with a hot meal, along with a second meal to eat later. The group lowered the number of people allowed to volunteer to prepare foods, relying on a core crew of individuals to prepare and serve meals in order to lessen exposure.
In that year, The Table has served a record number of meals: 50,256, according to Joe Doriguzzi, The Table’s assistant manager.
He said they served about 32,000 in 2019.
They are currently seeing between 100 and 120 people on a typical day. They prepare 120 meals every day, though Doriguzzi noted it’s really 240, as each person receives a hot meal and a bag lunch.
He said there is more involved with getting everything packed up to go, too.
With a year of take-out service under their belt, The Table crew has no plans to open for in-person dining any time soon, as there is still uncertainty as to when it might be safe to do so.
“We have no idea when we’re going to open up,” Doriguzzi said.
And while The Friendship Table has seen an increase in need, the organization has also seen how quickly the Bradford community stepped up to help. Too many local businesses and individuals to name have offered their support this year.
“The whole community of Bradford is just so generous,” said Doriguzzi.
He said that, as the organization does not get much grant money, the local community provides most of the funding, which is around $8,500 a month.
“I can’t believe during the pandemic how generous they’ve been when money’s been so tight,” he said.
In December, The Table crew had to stop serving altogether, as several members tested positive for COVID-19.
To fill in the gap, several local businesses and churches volunteered to prepare and serve to-go meals on The Table’s behalf.
“It’s still pretty tight, but we’re doing all right because we’re getting a lot of donations from the community,” he said.
They may not know when they will be able to fully reopen, but the ongoing vaccination clinics will help move that along.
Many of The Friendship Table’s volunteers have started getting vaccinated, and Doriguzzi hopes the whole crew will be vaccinated by the end of May.
That crew is a “very reliable and very dependable” people, said Doriguzzi.
This includes cook Tracey VanGorder, Hazel Wolcott, Larry Woods, Pat Durolek, Robert Yeager, Debbie Reynolds, Lee Beckus, Harrijane and Jerry Moore, Barb and Don Shufran, Holly Spittler, Melody Pollock, Pete and Marty Palumbo, Robert Gault, Amy Burgett, Andie Swaney, Max Miller and Ginny Young.
